The power to see into the future and foresee important event is a popular and recurring feature in many mythologies. It is usually a power held by one of the gods, but they often bestow that power upon a mortal to speak prophecies in their name. One of them, and the most known, was the Pythia of the Oracle of Delphi.

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Greek myths offer a wide variety of prophecies spoken by the Pythia, and for this lesson we will take a look at the prophecy King of Laios of Thebes heard.

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When Laios visited Delphi, the Pythia told him that his son would kill his father and marry his mother. When he and his wife Iocaste had a son, Oedipus, he tried to avoid his fate by sending one of his servants to leave him to die in the mountains. The servant however took pity and gave Oedipus to king Polybus of Corinth, who raised the child like one of his own. Years later, Oedipus also visited the Oracle of Delphi, where the Pythia told him the same prophecy: That he would kill his father and marry his mother. Believing his parents to be Polybus and his wife Merope, Oedipus decided to not return to Corinth and instead left for Thebes. On his way there, he had a quarrel with an older man, which resulted in the death of that man. When he reached Thebes, he found out that the mythical Sphinx tormented the city after the very recent killing of king Laios. Oedipus managed to defeat the creature, which secured him the throne as well as a marriage with the widow of Laios. So, unbeknownst to him, he had fulfilled the prophecy.

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When a plague struck Thebes, king Oedipus had to find out who killed the former king. When they learned the truth, that the old man he killed was Laios and that he was the son of Laios and Iocaste, Iocaste hanged herself and Oedipus blinded himself.

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And what do we learn from this? Never try to avoid your destiny.